Fins Up! Water Park — Attraction in Barnstable

First of all my husband booked us an overnight for our 3rd wedding anniversary as a surprise for me. He went online then ended up calling and explained he wanted the best room with admission to the inflatable water park in Yarmouth . He spoke with someone named Fran. She did not tell him he had the wrong cape codder park and that all they had was the indoor water park with 2 slides and a lazy river and that it was the one in Hyannis . He (along with his mom) also got me a gift card for a massage. When we went to check in that’s when we figured out he had booked it at the other cape codder in Hyannis with just the indoor waterpark and the outdoor pool which was closed due to drizzling outside on and off. So we checked in at 4 (check in doesn’t start til 3pm), we got ready and went to dinner. Came back and put our dessert we brought back into the fridge in the loft suite that costed my husband almost $400 for the one night. We were going to go to the water park, it closed already, pool was never open during our stay but closes at 8 anyways we found out so that wouldn’t have been an option either. So we went to the arcade where a few of the machines took our money from our card but didn’t give us the tokens for the game. For $2.50 you’re supposed to get 10 tokens, SEVERAL times we only got 3-4. We got taken for like $10 at the arcade, asked a few employees but they all said there’s no one at the arcade desk. The arcade desk was closed the entire time of our stay by the way. We got all set there and annoyed and went back to our loft suite around 8:38pm to enjoy our dessert we had brought back only to discover that the fridge wasn’t working so our desserts were ruined. This was at 8:50 pm Tuesday night. Room service stops @ 9. I called down to the front desk and was told the fridge should work then I was placed on hold and a manager came on the phone, a woman, who told me the same it should be working and that she might be able to get us an ice cream from the kitchen. I asked about how we weren’t able to use almost any of the amenities that came with the suite and now our desserts were ruined and she again stated she could try to get us an ice cream from the kitchen if we wanted. As far as the amenities, she asked how long did I think the guests should have access to the water park?! I was offended and appalled that she knowing the reason as I stated it to her still gave me a bs response like that and did zero to try to make it good for us. I hung up the phone. I thought yes, we went to an actual restaurant and brought back our favorite desserts and wanted to have a little fun before having our desserts and enjoying our anniversary night, but yea a couple of ice creams would make that all better. Oh and they gave us cards, 1 for $10 off dinner /lunch at the hearth and kettle and 1 for $10 off anything at the spa for me the lady said——only thing with those were they had to be used that day so they were absolutely useless. Now I have a gift card for a massage that was a very thoughtful gift from my husband and my mother in law and I don’t even want to go back there to use it! Ain’t that some sh*t?! And it says on there how I’m expected to give a gratuity of 18-20% when I go for my massage that was given to me as a gift. Anyways I advise anyone planning anything beyond just going there to go to that little lazy river with 2 water slides, to just don’t. The overall experience was not good. We are good at making the best of bad situations, and I was determined to have a good time cuz my husband had planned this while experience for me. The Cape Codder made this very hard. Oh AND there’s an additional $50 you must put onto a credit card, even tho my husband went there and paid for it all in full the week before, that no one told him about. Not Fran on the phone or whoever was there when it was paid for. Not til we went to check in did we get that surprise. Overall, not a good experience except for the experience we made it be for us with no help from the Cape Codder. I would have given zero stars but that’s not an...

This was our second time staying here and I have mixed feelings. First of all, and this bothered me the last time we stayed so I have to say it - I do not understand the choice for the live entertainment on the deck. It very much is catering to an older audience (some band of older men playing 50s rock and roll) which is a particularly odd choice at a family resort with primarily young to middle aged adults with young kids. They are not a bad band, but the vibe was very strange and I truly do not get it. They were there last time we stayed too.

We had a water park view room and it felt very humid and damp. Couldn’t really put the ac on much because it’s pointing right (and I mean directly) at the beds and there’s really no way to change that. I find it totally bizarre and frankly a little gross that they do not use fitted sheets on the bed. The pillows are basically air and are useless and the mattress feels old and worn out and caves into the center. The walls to the rooms are apparently paper thin and I could hear my neighbors’ screaming child all day and night.

The hallways except for maybe one are extremely warm and not air conditioned or temperature controlled in any way. The arcade the one time we were there was, to be frank, disgustingly hot as if the heat was on and we couldn’t even stay in there. We were actually sweating.

The water park is a bit disappointing if I’m being honest. There is nothing accommodating for kids who are too old for the toddler area yet too short for the slides. You have to be 48 inches to ride the slides and despite my son having a doctors appointment just weeks before our visit where they said he was 48 inches tall and joked that he was now “tall enough to ride the rides,” he was told he could not ride the slides because he supposedly wasn’t 48 inches. I have seen other reviewers mention discrepancies with this height requirement as well. Fine, but very disappointing for him because other than the lazy river, which is incredibly overcrowded - so badly that you can barely move without bumping into 10 other people, his only other option was the wave pool which has barely any waves. The water seems to be heavily chlorinated which I understand is probably necessary with that many people in it but it burns the heck out of your eyes and In the lazy river there are like 1,000 spots where water squirts out and hits you right in the eyes with said water throughout the whole thing which is annoying when your eyes are already burning and more just keeps getting squirted in. This is a minor thing that I find annoying with a lot of places but I wish the water park was open later.

Other things I noticed: the whole place is a maze and the signs are not helpful in many areas. It’s very difficult to get around & I noticed other people struggling as well. One family asked where the lobby was and I heard an employee say “follow the signs” without offering any help. The restaurant (not the hearth and kettle but the other one) is incredibly over priced for the quality of food you receive. $140 later we somehow left the one time we ate at the hotel full but not satisfied. It’s not bad, but for the price I expected better. And it’s disappointing to stay at a resort and not want to eat at the restaurant which is supposed to be a perk of resort stays. The lobby is beautiful and updated and the JFK family memorabilia is cool but the rest of the place needs some TLC.

I really can’t think of much I did like - we did not eat at hearth and kettle so I can’t comment on that. The place seems relatively clean overall so that’s a plus. The music choices in the water park were fun and made it feel like a party along with all the colored lights. The room is a pretty good size (not the bathroom though). The arcade despite being extremely hot is pretty cool compared to a lot of other hotels. The outdoor pool was nice & a good size.

Overall - technically better than a small hotel with only a pool I guess, but I’d say save your money and go to Great Wolf Lodge if you’re looking for a real water...

I decided to take a last minute "stay-cation" before summer officially ended for my 2 children. I came across the Cape Codder and it sounded like a perfect 2 day trip for myself, my 8 year old son and 13 year old daughter. I let my daughter bring a friend just in case it was too "young" for her. I quickly booked a room, as there were only a few left on our arrival date of August 24.

As soon as I booked, I started looking at reviews and got a little nervous. I have to say, this is a rare case where I am glad that I didn't look at the reviews first. The room was a little pricey at first glance. However, the price included 4 water park tickets for each day-including until 2 p.m. on day of check-out- as well as a voucher for food.

Everything started great from check-in, and the staff and experience kept that pace throughout our mini stay. The grounds and lobby are beautiful. The front desk staff are welcoming and gave me all of the vital information I would need for our stay before I even asked a question.

Our room had a terrace entrance. I wouldn't call the room The Ritz, but I would say it was perfect and exactly what you would expect of any rooms situated on and around a water park set in the middle of a beach town. Some reviews make it sound like you would suffocate from pungent mildew- I did not have that experience at all. I, myself, live on the coast so maybe my expectations were more realistic. If you stay in a beachy town surrounded by water there will be mosquitoes, and insects, and a faint beach town smell that sneak in the room. If you are lucky enough to have a sliding screen that opens to a private tiny beach bungalow right outside your door, and then a 20 foot private tree lined walk to emerge into a kids paradise of snacks and water slides- then I assure you a little bug spray will be enough to not let insects ruin your stay.

I was also nervous that the water park would be a bore to my 13 yr old based on some reviews. She isn't just older, but also a competitive athlete, and at the age where it's hard to impress her compared to her 8 yr old brother. She and her friend had a blast the entire time. By the end of our time, they even suggested and willingly watched after my younger son because they wanted me to try the slides before we left. (My son is just an inch short to go on the bigger slides) Having two young teens willingly babysit because they just need you to experience the same fun they had says everything.

We ate at the Deck for dinner and it was relaxing, our waitress was just amazing, reasonably priced with a menu we all 4 found something we loved. There was a live interactive animal show for the kids right after we ate. The arcade kept us busy late night. There was just so much to do and so little time. This long and exhaustive review to say: This was a little slice of heaven for my family and moving forward, something I am sure will...